Published by Bayan Metro Manila
Community pantries and clean-up drives offer concrete solutions that directly alleviate the hardships of our people, while disproving the claim of the government that only repressive lockdown models are effective in containing COVID-19 cases.
The establishment of community pantries in recent days highlighted the slow and inadequate arrival of aid amid worsening hunger and poverty after the government renewed harsh quarantine restrictions in the NCR Plus. Meanwhile, several community-driven clean-up activities were organized in Baseco, Tumana, and Arboretum (QC) in contrast to the costly, ugly, and wasteful government-initiated dumping of crushed Dolomite in Manila Bay.
These local actions underscored the crucial role of the community in addressing the public health and environment crisis.
After a year of relying on strict lockdown measures, we saw how they failed in preventing the spread of the coronavirus aside from causing widespread economic and social disruptions. We were told there’s no other option but to endure the world’s longest lockdown.
But the success of the community pantries and the effort of residents to organize clean-up drives and urban gardens in their areas reminded us that the militarized lockdown approach is counterproductive and that the stubborn refusal to reject this preferred solution is causing unnecessary suffering.
Instead of simply herding people inside their homes, authorities should have enjoined them to mobilize community efforts in battling the pandemic and other social woes.
The problem with the militarized and military-led response of the government is that it treated the social crisis as a mere peace and order issue. Hence, the imposition of police measures such as curfews, lockdowns, security checkpoints, and intensified surveillance.
The lockdown approach stifled citizen-led initiatives and undermined the application of the Bayanihan model in tackling the problems linked to the pandemic.
If the government is overwhelmed in handling the crisis, it should learn to trust the community frontliners and consider them as partners in overcoming the pandemic. However, the Rodrigo Duterte government had failed to embrace this solution because it used the pandemic to consolidate power through the use of fear and strong arm tactics.